


Scar Tissue

by Scarlet_Hawke



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Lewis Snart's A+ Parenting, M/M, Scars, Wedding Night
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-19 04:15:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9418109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Hawke/pseuds/Scarlet_Hawke
Summary: They've done it! Barry and Len have tied the knot and gotten married.Nothing is between them. No more secrets. No more lies. But there's still one thing that bothers Barry. Len's scars. He knows them, how sensitive they are, how deep and wide they are, but he doesn't know where they came from and why Len is still so guarded about them.The arduous task of wearing Len down has paid off and now he's finally going to tell Barry... for a price of course.





	1. Champagne

**Author's Note:**

> BIG thank you to my friend indiepjones46! Love you, brain twin!

**Len’s POV**

“I don’t like talking about my scars, Red,” Len told Barry flatly. He refused to give in to the impulse of closing himself off and pulling away whenever this particular subject was brought up. Instead, he closed his eyes and breathed. His hands continuing to skim over the bare skin of Barry’s upper thighs, brushing fingers gently over the flawless expanse with reverence. The action acted to quell the tightness in his chest until he was comfortable enough to open his eyes again and look up at his newly-minted husband.

The bright band of silver encircling Scarlet’s left ring finger was a reminder of the exhausting day they had finished and why they were holed up in this swanky hotel room instead of their lofty home.

This was their wedding night!

Wonderful as it was, Len was still struggling with the unbelievable event, even with the proof of their vows on both their hands. Never had he thought he'd have something this good, SOMEONE this good in his life. But spread all around the room was evidence of his and Barry's activities for the last few hours. Different parts from either of their tuxedos, strewn and scattered everywhere around the hotel room, the cream colored carpet dotted with wilting rose petals. They having flown from the duvet when it was torn from the mattress and flung over the bed's footboard.

Time had been lost between the two of them, pausing now after finishing another round of enthusiastic sweaty sex. With Barry sitting astride him, both sated for the moment, though that wasn’t to say that they were done, not by a long shot. Hell, Len could still feel himself at half-mast inside the heat of his Speedster.

Len flinched, snapping himself back to the present when the light scratch of Barry’s fingernail caught the edge of the raised flesh. The only acknowledgement of the incident was a soft grunt from the older man; gently Barry's hand was taken to prevent any further explorations. That particular scar, like most that decorated Len’s body, was cleverly camouflaged by swirling vivid color and line work granted by the many tattoos inked into Len’s chest, sides, arms, and back. There were a few tattoo pieces that fettered down his torso, over his hip and one on his right ankle. It being part of a set he shared with Lisa, something the two of them had gotten done together to commemorate her twenty-first birthday.

Barry, in all his tenacious glory, had decided that he wanted to why so many scars marred his husband’s skin. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Len’s tattoos, far from it. Len had several rather vivid recollections of Barry’s sinful mouth and tongue following the swirling blizzard painted over Len’s ribs. His scars just were something that Len wouldn’t describe as happy thoughts, some of the last things that the former thief was guarded about. The speedy superhero had asked a few times over the course of their relationship, he didn't push when Len would deny him but he didn't give up easy either. Hence the request's reemergence now.

“Sorry, Len.” Barry apologized, looking down at him with concern shining in those hazel eyes of if he'd hurt his husband.

The blue-eyed silver fox sighed, lifting Barry’s hand to his lips for a gentle kiss against his fingertips. “All right, if it’ll keep you from looking like a kicked puppy, I’ll tell you. But tit for tat, Red. If you want stories about my many misadventures, then you’ll have to give me something in return.”

Barry's gorgeous eyes widened for a brief second at finally getting an acquiesce to Len's final hold-out, but then they narrowed as he caught up to Len’s proposed proposition. It made the Rogue proud to see that at least the kid was learning to think things through instead of blindly agreeing; that seriously was one of brunette's biggest flaws.

“Why does this sound like you’re making a deal?” The implication just made the former thief smirk devilishly.

“Well,” Len shifted underneath Barry’s weight into a more comfortable position. Pulling his arms up to slide beneath his head and watched the hungry expression bloom over his Speedster’s beautiful face, it made his smile all the more wolfish and flexed his tricep muscles just to watch Barry bite his lower lip. “Only seems right considering. Isn’t that what your heroic duty would encourage?”

Oh, the look he got from that jab. Hazel eyes snapping up to him in shock, as if he'd been slapped rather than told a truth he couldn’t deny. The look was scandalized, affronted, maybe even a little irritated and Len could barely contain himself; sometimes it was just too easy to be a shit to his lover. Only served Barry right for all the times he had harped on and on about _‘There being good in him’_. Didn’t matter if he had been right eventually.

With an eyeroll and a huff, Barry agreed, “Fine, what do you want then?” Looking as if he were right on the edge of backing down, but just like a bunny with a carrot lure, he couldn’t resist knowing and stubbornly held his ground, damning the consequences.

Len could have clucked his tongue at him and just barely managed to keep his smirk from widening further on his face. Barry might have been learning to look before he leapt, but he was still charging straight in with no plan for his own safety, forgetting to name terms to his own specifications so he wouldn't be exploited. Such an amateur move. It was a good thing that Red was a superhero because, although he was adorable, he would have been one of the easiest marks with how easily everything blew over his head. It also helped that Len loved him.

“First." Len pulled his arms from under his head, taking Barry's hand and breaking a moment to brush his thumb lightly over the silver band. Twisting the ring gently over the soft skin before using that hand like a tick maker and folding the index finger into Barry's palm, “One story per night. I’m not reliving all of this...” motioning over himself and the expansive array that lay hidden underneath the canvas of Len’s ink, “at one time.”

That brought a quick nod from the brunette. The puppy dog look alone was enough to tell Len that his Speedster wouldn’t wish pain on him whether physical or mental.

“Secondly,” Len announced, using another finger to continuing ticking off his conditions, “I do require compensation.” Tipping his head to the side and smirking like a devil before he clarified, “You in any position I want, against any surface I choose.” The thief waited for that to sink in then watched as dawning horror crept slowly over Barry’s beautiful face. It was only rivaled by the growing heat that began to cloud those hazel eyes, blowing the color to thin rings around his pupil. All that manifested nicely in a twitch of the brunette’s dick, it stirring to life against Len’s abdomen. “And there may or may not be kink involved.” Len continued, "Handcuffs, blindfolds, ball gags, all the fun stuff."

Barry breathed shallowly, attempting to calm himself, Len assumed, it didn’t seem to be working with how he squirmed. The thief watching with thinly masked lust as Barry loosed a soft whimper at feeling the renewed swell of Len's cock inside him. Red hadn't the been the only one afflicted with images from Len's named conditions. His keen eyes following the bob of Barry's Adam’s apple, the action making the Rogue want to lean up and lick a swath over the pale, unblemished throat. But Len was interrupted before he could act on his craving.

“I-I think I can live with that,” the kid stuttered out.

“You still want to know all about my sordid past, Scarlet? It isn’t pretty.” Len warned him, his voice slightly husky now; he was giving Barry a final out and, by proxy, himself.

Dredging up memories and feelings that he had long put to ground didn’t make them any easier to deal with in the light of day; not to mention how the stories might affect his bleeding-heart husband, what he would think, say or do once he knew the full unadulterated truth about his ex-con lover.

Len licked his lower lip, heart hammering under his breast with an anxiety of something he couldn’t name. The ghosts of his past flying through the forefront of his mind. He knew nothing he could tell Barry would drive the Speedster away from him. No, if there had been anything that would have driven the brunette away it would have been his criminal ways, not pain and suffering Len had endured before ever meeting the bright-eyed do-gooder.

“Fine,” Len capitulated, exhaling through his nose in finality, “let’s take a break from bed, get cleaned up a bit then settle in for story time. Scar stories aren’t good pillow talk.”

Len glanced over the bedside table, taking in the sight of the empty bottle of champagne bobbing in a pool of chilly water. He caught the neck and lifted. “And I'm definitely going to need room service to bring up a bottle of something stronger than bubbly.”

Barry giggled.


	2. Johnnie Walker Blue Label Whisky

**Barry’s POV**

It took a little over an hour for the newlyweds to get re-situated. Most of which was spent between showers and waiting for the hotel to send up a bottle of liquor that had more alcohol proof than what they had been provided. However, at four in the morning, the strongest liquor room service could offer was Grey Goose Vodka; and judging from Len’s expression, that wasn’t going to cut it. 

The former thief was being fussy, but since he was about to recount a potentially powerful and painful memory, Barry was willing to cut him a little slack. Though that didn’t stop the Speedster from sighing as if put upon; flashing out of the room, down the street, and pit-stopped at one of the few all-night liquor stores Central City offered, to purchase the Johnnie Walker Blue Label Whisky his husband was adamant on having.

Len was seated in the corner of the couch when Barry return to their room. Judging from his pinched and scowling expression, it looked as if he were already steeped in unpleasant thoughts. Barry’s heart went out to him, Len was clearly tense even when all Barry could see were his back of his head and shoulders. The brunette pulled in a breath, shucked his shoes, and cleared his throat to properly announce his return in effort to not startle the other, “What sense does it make to have alcohol that costs over $200?” He bemoaned, shrugging out of his hoodie and switching the brown bagged liquor bottle from one hand to the other whilst detangling himself. 

The liquor was presented to the former thief as Barry walked over, offering the bottle as if he were a garçon at a fancy restaurant, “Your whisky, my liege.” The display had the effect of bringing a smile to his Rogue’s handsome face, earning Barry a gently growled, ‘Cheeky, brat.’ 

Upon taking the bottle, Len turned it over in his hands. Barry being favored with watching the dark clouds recede from the intense blue eyes and letting him know that his little act of goofiness had helped ease the older man. The knot of tension in his chest lessened and Barry smiled, pulling in a more relaxing breath, and settling himself on the couch, fit against Len’s side.

“My grandfather drank this,” Len told him, looking down at the bottle with a soft but sad countenance, thumb running over the embossed golden writing of the label, “Told me that he didn’t bother drinking unless it was this stuff.” He smiled wistfully, looking lost in a memory till Barry curled a hand out around his forearm in support. Len drew a breath, coming back to reality with the light touch, his smile a little strained now as he set the bottle on the coffee table and pushed up to his feet, heading toward the dry bar.

Len hadn’t had the bottle in his hands for two minutes before he looked pained, it left Barry feeling suddenly incredibly guilty for forcing this on him. “Hey… um…,” worrying his bottom lip on his teeth, “let’s just go back to bed, Lenny… we don’t have to do this. I’m sorry I brought it up.” Hazel eyes darting from the back of his husband’s shorn head, down to the bottle on the coffee table, then down to his flannel pajama pants.

From his periphery, Barry watched Len pause; fidgeting at feeling those cool eyes slide over him. When Len sighed, Barry felt his stomach somersault, “Welching, Scarlet? How unlike you, thought that was more my thing.” He didn’t sound condescending, in fact, he almost sounded admonishing.

Barry had always loved the smooth tone of Len’s voice, even when they bantered in costume. It was soothing, like a lullaby. But right now, it just made the younger man squirm. “Maybe…,” he brushed his hand over the back of his neck, a signature sign of anxiety. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, I guess I didn’t think about how painful something like a liquor bottle could be,” Barry finished, shrugging a shoulder dejectedly.

He hadn’t heard Len walk back over, but he did see his hand when it slipped underneath his chin lifting Barry’s face to look at him. Len dropped a soft, chaste kiss to his lips, “Don’t beat yourself up, kid.” Canting his head toward the bottle, Len added, “Remembering my granddad is good, more of a friend and father to me then Lewis ever was.” He straightened, handing Barry a short glass tumbler then pivoted to seat himself beside the brunette. “Memories like these aren’t easy. I didn’t have the childhood you had with the Wests. Honestly…,” he paused as he opened the bottle. “I wouldn’t have mourned Lewis if he’d been the one murdered by a time traveling psychopath.”

The Speedster mulled that over, watching the caramel-colored liquor fill Len’s glass. Some of the horrors that Len and Lisa had been put through, he knew about, Len had talked before about how awful a person his father had been; though that had also needed a heavy dose of liquid courage. If Barry were honest with himself, if he could have picked someone with knowing the information he did before tonight... he imagined he wouldn’t have had a hard time justifying Lewis Snart’s death.

A hand smoothing against his cheek pulled him back. Barry sniffling and shuddering out a soft breath at the moisture covering Len’s thumb, “Tears already?” Len’s voice wasn’t mocking, though it was shadowed with concern. “I told you that these stories aren’t easy to tell, Red, or to hear.” Barry tried to muster himself as the glass between his hands was plucked, set beside Len’s own on the coffee table. “Wasn’t trying to upset you with reminding you of your mom,” Len shook his head, “just illustrating how much I hated that man.”

Once both were filled halfway, Barry was handed a tumbler; knowing full well the alcohol wouldn’t affect Barry save for the initial burn, but the symbolism of Len needing it was more than enough for him to take the glass. He sipped, tasting a slight hint of butterscotch, while watching Len take a deeper drink and wincing at the burn it provided.

“Violence has been a part of my life since birth, I never lived under the delusion that what went on in our home was normal, nor did I feel responsible for Lewis’ behavior. I saw him as a demonic presence that somehow found its way into the lives of the innocent people who surrounded him. Something I entertained in the days before Lisa, where it was just me being taught his ‘lessons’. To me, my father was the ultimate culmination of all things I had been taught were “bad and unholy” on my Sunday trips to church with my grandfather. I often felt I was living out the stories I would read in the Good Book, where good took on evil — only in our house, the good never seemed to stand a chance.” Len swirled the contents of his drink shallowly, then downed the rest of it before continuing.

“The ‘good’ in my house was my grandfather, a man so honorable, gentle and caring that I based my ideas of the God I read about on him.” Barry smiled when Len looked over at him, “You’re a lot like him, Scarlet. Always seeing the good even when you shouldn’t.”

Barry canted his head, setting his tumbler on the coffee table and curling in closer to his Rogue. If it were him having to relive something this painful, he would want the contact; Len was a little different in that regard, preferring distance over tactile touch, but with a breath and curled both his arms around Barry.

Len dipped his head to lay a soft kiss to the top of his Scarlet’s scalp, nosing into the fragrant strands of hair. “The scar I have on my temple is from .357 Smith and Wesson Magnum Revolver.” Barry felt more than heard Len scoff, “learned real early that flinching could be life and death. Lewis told me it was a different version of William Tell and had me stand in the backyard of our run-down house with an empty beer can behind my head. Said that if I flinched when the gun went off then I was as good as dead. He had no use for someone that couldn’t stand up on their own if it got too hot. Said he was teaching me the value of strength. Bastard would yell if I closed my eyes or shook with the paralyzing fear I felt. But then his penchant for violence was common and notated by blood-filled welts and bruises that would cover my body on a steady basis. Said scars built character and seemed to enjoy the power that came with seeing me in a state of terror.”

Hot tears of sympathy welled underneath Barry’s eyes. He could feel them when he blinked and still felt them as they slid down his cheeks. “God…” His voice trembling, words escaping him underneath the tumult of emotion. He turned to face his husband and twisted in Len’s arms to wrap him tight, “Len…” It was all horrible! He hated the thought of Len going through that. He had half a mind to call Captain Singh and demand to know why something hadn’t ever been done, it was unacceptable!

He pressed a soft kiss to the scar Len had just told him about, feeling the former thief hold him just as securely. “I love you, Len, so much.” His voice still trembling. Barry knew, on some level, that Len wouldn’t cry. These were just memories, painful memories, but something he had forced himself to grow stronger from; still, the light squeeze from those strong arms around his back was enough to tell him that his Rogue appreciated his emotion.

They sat like that for a few minutes; Barry kneeling into Len’s space, his arms laced around Len’s neck, holding his husband tight against his chest and Len having wrapped Barry around the middle with a sudden desperate strength. Silence between them save for Barry giving another sniff then pressing a light kiss to Len’s temple, nuzzling into his hairline as they sat there, chest-to-chest, till Barry was practically straddling Len’s lap.

Funny how Len was the one telling such a hellish story, but Barry was the one that seemed to need the comfort. He pulled lightly away to look up into those blue eyes, the haunted look banished by the warmth being shone on him. Barry raised a hand to sweep his thumb very lightly over the scar, subconsciously thinking that if his touch were too strong then he would hurt the older man, he didn't want that but he did want to reaffirm his devotion, something that he felt Len needed to know was there without a shadow of doubt, “I love you.”

“I know,” Len replied, slipping a hand behind Barry’s neck and pulling his Scarlet Speedster in for a deep, soul searing kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5 points to Slytherin if you can spot the movie quip. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Comment are loved and appreciated! 
> 
> Please tell me what you guys think and if you'd like more.


End file.
